winning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfnK8GWpOF0

*I think YouTube enrolled me in some UI beta or A/B testing. I'm not seeing the 'use old embed code' option under share.

be sure to watch in 1080p :]

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/116/1169273p1.html

Some early dynasty news for anyone interested. Can't wait to start out as the defensive coordinator at Michigan then work my way to Ball State, then San Diego State, then back to Michigan as the head coach ;)

"...EA and Tiburon have responded and given players the ability to create their own coaches from scratch. You can modify looks, set ages and even pick an alma mater. Save these changes, and you can share them with the world and every mode in your game.

That stuff might sound cosmetic, but it plays into the cool changes in Dynasty mode. When you start, you can choose to go be the head coach of whatever school you like, but the real challenge is taking on one of the new offensive or defensive coordinator slots and working your way up to running an entire team. Yes, this year you can be one of the assistant coaches and manage just one side of the ball for entire games. Do well, and the shot at a head coaching job might pop up. "

Over the last year, there have been various conversations about how the game of football has changed, and left Carr in the dust. Some of the posters have said, more or less in the words of Al Davis and the Raiders, "Just win, baby." Now, I myself want to see Michigan win, but is there some point at which it's not worth it? I'm thinking of that old movie, "Indecent Proposal," and the line, "Some things aren't for sale."

I'd like to see Brian put up a poll or two, finding out how important it is to mgoblog readers HOW Michigan wins. It should be obvious that every Michigan fan wants Michigan to win. But we each have a different point where it's not worth it.

What got me thinking down this track was the profile on Brandon Hawthorne. Brian wrote, " 'I'm a get you.' Those four words . . . represent the vast gulf in culture between the old guard and the new better than anything I've run across so far. . . The fact that Hawthorne and Smith fit in so well with the coaches recruiting them they would commit to Michigan sight unseen . . . indicates a shift in philosophy. It's not seismic . . . but it's real."

Now, I can live with the shift in philosophy. I'm fine with Hawthorne coming to Michigan. After all, iirc, Anthony Carter wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but Bo was sure happy to have him on campus. It's obvious Michigan had to get with the program, in the shift from Carr & crew to RR.

Having said that, I don't want criminals on campus. I don't want Michigan to be just another semi-pro team, just another ticket to the NFL, with no loyalty, no "Michigan Men," no academic or ethical standards. I think we all know there is a huge double standard in terms of the academic expectations of the general student body compared to Michigan athletes. But I'm wondering if there is some point where the disparity becomes so vast it creates problems. As an example, it is my perception that Miami football players are thugs, and are purely hired guns. I don't want that for Michigan.

Back to the original question: how much would you "pay" to have the mythical national championship? If corruption and cheating was well enough hidden, would you want it, because it meant we would win? Or would you rather see UofM contend for the occasional NC, say every five or ten years, but doing it the "right" way, the "Michigan" way? What are you willing to compromise, and what is important to do the right way?

Maybe I'm just a hopeless romantic. Maybe Michigan under Bo & Carr has been just as corrupt and slimy as any other successful team out there. Maybe, but my strong impression of Carr and Bo was that they cared a lot about the process, about how things were done. I have always felt that Carr was a man of integrity, who cared about a lot more than wins. Again, we had to move forward. Carr was part of the problem. It was time for him to move on. But it is critical to me that we have moved on the "right" way.

Brian has been (I think) hinting at this kind of thing with the oversigning at Alabama and North Carolina. The implication is that for Brian, even if oversigning slightly improved the level of recruits at UofM, it wouldn't be worth it to him. This is one of his "lines in the sand." What are your lines in the sand? What is it worth to you to win?

Growing up I was an airforce brat, living in multiple places until my dad finally got out and we moved to Ohio right outside of Columbus. I was in 4th grade it was the year after Michigan won its national championship. All the friends who i thought were cool liked michigan and being an outsider to the rivalry made my choice to root for the maize and blue. Even though I had a love of football i didnt get hardcore into til my later years. My first game i remember watching was John Cooper's last, and watching some of the next season when we were left with a young John Navarre. Oh the horror the 2001 and 2002 OSU Michigan game was, but then things were changed I watched all of the 2003 season every game from Chris Perry being the workhorse against MSU, to him leading us to a victory against OSU the first in 2 years, to the USC game which i could tell would be bad as soon as the ball hit Braylons ankle and the usc defender intercepted it. From 2003 season on I was hooked, I would wake up and watch game day, watch all the other games until michigan played and watch the ones after. Living in college my entire life and knowing i could not afford out of state tuition i was in a bind.

The bind was this should i choose not as good of an education to avoid going to Ohio State or should i go and just deal with it. I choose to go to Ohio State where as all my die hard OSU fans didnt. I was lucky in my first year in that my roommates were all friends and one of them happened to be a Michigan fan too. The year was memorable i got to see Guttierez get hurt the week before the first game and see Chad Henne grow, and Mike Hart just straight up dominate. Michigan ended up losing to OSU but still ended in the Rose Bowl facing Texas. Just the thought of the game and how if only the partially blocked field goal could have been fully blocked used to make me sad. As you all know the past 3 seasons with all the promise and losses to Ohio State and In all bowls except for the great dismantle of the SEC powerhouse Florida, were getting depressing. As a michigan fan i suffer through buckeye pride that is seen every where. I get shit talked consistently by my friends since they are the few who know i like michigan and pretty much get laughed at everytime michigan loses to osu. I have never been to an OSU game yet an OSU Michigan game, I regret not going to the #1 vs #2 game but hey i didnt need to be laughed while i sobbed during the late hit crable gave. This year however is different my friends/girlfriend convinced me to go to the 4 season ticket games. I probably wont enjoy the first 3 since i'll have to record michigan games and miss all the other great stuff, like flipping through the games or watching the highlights of games for the tenth time. But I will enjoy the last game when Michigan comes down, I'll be wearing all the Maize and Blue I own cheering for my team. So for the first Michigan game I'll ever go to I would love for it to be a victory, so for once i can rub in my college friends who never knew me when Michigan last one, that Michigan was the better team.